Concrete  Stairs 

Ransome  System. 


Aberthaw  Construction  Co  7 EXCHANGE  PLACE,  BOSTON 

INCORPORATED. 


Concrete  Engineers  and  Contractors  for  concrete  masonry  of  all  Kinds. 


TELEPHONE  CONNECTION. 


member  Master  builders  association. 


CIRCULAR  NO.  3. 


tl 


Section  through  Stairs 


TWiSTIO 


STf  C L 


Section  xx 


Design  for  Long  Span. 

CUT  L 

Supports  at  top  and  bottom 


CUT  M . 

Shows  concrete  beams  and  soffit  of  a long  flight 


THE  USE  OF  CONCRETE  AND  STEEL 


Is  too  familiar  to  need  an  introduction.  The  oldest  and  best  type  of  tin’s 
construction  is  the  Ransome  System,  which  employs  square  rods  of  steel, 
twisted  cold,  embedded  in  the  bottom  of  the  concrete.  These  rods  take  up 
the  tensile  strain,  and  by  their  means  large  spans  may  easily  be  made.  The 
concrete  acts  only  in  compression. 

By  means  of  this  system  we  can  construct  Ions:  flights  of  stairs  made 
of  an  absolutely  fireproof  material,  and  a material  at  the  same  time  so  cheap 
and  so  easily  worked  that  we  haye  the  lowest  priced  fireproof  stair  in  the 
market.  The  only  reason  for  introducing  a new  construction  is  that  it  is  better 
and  cheaper  than  any  now  in  use. 

For  further  information  regarding  details  of  the  Ransome  System,  see 
Kidder's  “ Architects'  and  Builders'  Pocket  Book,"  or  Kidder’s  “ Building 
Construction  and  Superintendence,"  or  send  for  our  general  catalogue. 


MARK  YOU, CONCRETE  STAIRS  ARE  ABSOLUTELY  FIREPROOF. 


They  will  remain  cool  and  passable  for  a considerable  time  even  under 
the  direct  action  of  fire. 

1 he  stair  well  is,  as  a rule,  subject  to  a fiercer  fire  than  any  other 
part  of  a burning  building,  yet  unprotected  iron  stairs  are  used  in  build- 
ings, whose  specifications  call  for  all  other  iron  to  be  thickly  coated  with 
fireproofing.  Our  stairs  are  made  of  the  best  fireproofing  material 
itself.  They  will  remain  passable  long  after  an  iron  stair  is  at  a red 
heat.  Compared  with  iron  stairs  they  are  very  low  priced. 


SOCKET 
EMBEDDED 
IN  STRING 
TO  RECEIVE 
BALASTRADE 


CUT  N. 

Concrete  Stairs,  with  Granolithic  finish.  Mr.  John  Lyman  Faxon,  Archt. 

Mayhew  School,  Chambers  and  Poplar  Sts.,  Boston. 


Conform 
to  any 
Design 


VI 


CUT  O. 

Chapel,  Mt.  Auburn  Cemetery. 

Mr  Willard  T.  Sears,  A relit. 

Concrete  steps  supported  by  walls.  For  construction  see  cut  at  right. 


Concrete;  Stairs  Between  Walls 

CUT  P. 

Fockets  cut  in  brick  walls  for  bearings. 


CUT  Q 


Town  Hall,  Revere,  Mass. 

Greenleaf  & Cobb.  Archts. 

MARBLE  COMPOSITE  TREADS.  GRANOLITHIC  RISERS 


REGARDING  FINISH. 


Stairs  are  made  with  or  without  nosing, 
open  or  closed  string  as  desired. 

A GRANOLITHIC  finish  is  durable,  and 
not  at  all  slippery.  THE  COLOR  may  be 
varied  to  suit  the  design. 

MARBLE,  MARBLE  COMPOSITE  treads 
and  risers,  or  other  finish,  may  be  attached. 

The  SOFFIT  may  be  finished  with  gran- 
olithic or  with  plaster,  applied  directly  to  the 
stair  construction. 


VIII 


CUT  R 

Enclosed  Fire  Escape,  Mayhew  School,  Boston 

Mr.  John  Lyman  Faxon,  Archt. 

These  stairs  get  their  bearing  from  the  hollow  con 
crete  column  and  the  walls. 


cut  s. 

Highland  School,  Revere,  Mass. 

Mr.  Penn  Varney,  Archt..  Lynn,  Mass. 
Concrete  nosing,  Granolithic  finish. 


Short  Spans,  Supports  top  and  bottom. 


CUT  T. 


I\ 


CUT  U 

Short  Flight.  Flat  Soffit,  Granolithic  finish. 

For  construction  see  cut  at  left. 


X 


NO 

CONCRETE 

STAIRS 

EVER 

FAILED 


WHAT  WE 
HAVE 
DONE 
ONCE 
WE  CAN 
DO  BETTER 
NEXT  TIME 


r~ ' 

m 

■ 

CUT  V. 

\ . M.  C.  A.,  Salem,  Alass.  Mr.  Walter  J.  Paine.  Archt. 

Stairs,  Floors  and  Landings  Concrete  construction,  with  Marble  and  Mosaic  finish. 


XI 


handsomer  than 

l RON 


CUT  W. 

V.  M.  C.  A.,  Salem,  Mass. 

Main  landing  carried  on  concrete  beams  of  twenty-foot  span. 

concentrated  at  the  center. 


Mr.  Walter  J.  Paine,  Archt. 
Tested  with  a load  of  five  tons, 


XII 


FROST  HAS  NO 
ACTION  ON 
GRANOLITHIC 


THE  FINISH  IS 
WATERPROOF 


Hotel  Mountfort,  Beacon  Street. 

Steps  supported  by  concrete  buttresses. 

FOR  OUTSIDE  STEPS,  concrete  is  being  used  more  and  more  each  year.  We  can  construct  our  steps 
like  our  stairs  with  support  only  at  the  top  and  bottom  or  at  the  sides,  thus  saving  the  expense  of  filling 
and  giving  a passageway  underneath. 


XIII 


CUT  Y. 

Steps,  Oliver  Ames  Estate,  No.  Easton,  Mass. 

Support  top  and  bottom. 

FOR  STEP  WORK  concrete  has  the  primary  advantage  over  stone  of  LOWER  COST.  Further,  it  may 
be  worked  into  almost  any  form  to  suit  special  designs.  When  properly  made,  it  weathers  perfectly. 
Well  finished  concrete  steps  are  very  handsome  and  are  indestructible. 


XIV 


CUT  Z. 

Highland  School,  Revere,  Mass. 

Steps  and  plinths  of  columns,  Concrete  with  Granolithic  finish. 


Mr.  Penn  Varney,  Archt.,  Lynn.  Mass 


XV 


Self-supporting  Steps,  Garden  St.,  Cambridge.  Picked  faced  Concrete  Panel: 


“THE  NEED  OF  IMPROVED  METHODS  FOR  E XTI  NGU ISH  I NG  FI  R E I N HIGH  BUILD- 
INGS,” an  article  in  the  “Engineering  News”  of  Dec.  22,  1S9S,  contains  the 
following  : — 

“ Again,  in  the  case  of  the  burning  of  the  Temple  Court  and  the 
M anhattan  Savings  Bank  buildings,  the  slate  treads  of  the  stairways  yielded 
to  the  heat,  leaving  the  staircase  with  openings  the  full  size  of  the  tread, 
which  made  them  impassable.  Marble  and  bluestone,  which  are  also  con- 
tinually used  for  stair  treads,  have  proved  equally  insecure  when  attacked 
bv  fire  and  water.  So  little  confidence,  indeed,  is  felt  in  such  stone 
treads,  that  a well-known  authority  on  fireproof  construction,  has  recently 
expressed  the  opinion  that  the  staircase  construction  of  ninety  per  cent, 
of  our  great  office  buildings  would  prove  utterly  unreliable  for  the  use 
of  firemen,  in  the  event  of  a fire  of  serious  proportions.” 


